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| getting into position before the singletrack |
Over the few years that I've been trail running the onset of spring is much anticipated. It represents a return to the trails, even if the winter has been so mild that you never really left them... even if they were never really covered in snow in the first place. It also represents longer days and with gradual warming it begins to reinforce that summer really isn't all that far down the road.
With a summer of big events on the horizon, Joe and I selected the Bear Mountain 50K as a tune-up run for the spring. For Joe it was a milestone in his training in the long recovery from knee surgery and a race to run, not to race. For me it was a chance to refocus after the marathon, leaving the roads and track and re-entering the world of rocks, roots, mud, and hills. I put no pressure on myself to finish with a certain time, only to go out and have fun.
The 50K distance is just about the right length. It's a bunch of hours out on the trail, but it's not too long, and with a trail running pace, it's not too taxing. When you're conditioned for it there's not a lot of recovery required either. I could see running one of these every week or two, no problem.
The events at Bear Mountain are put on by The North Face as part of their Endurance Challenge which includes race venues across the country through the summertime. When we arrived on Saturday morning we were impressed by the overall organization of the event. The 50-milers had already set off and we milled about before the start of the 50K, visiting with some fellow Vermonters.
From the start the race, the course led us over some rocky, wet terrain on a double-track trail. There were a few miles of wider trail to shake things out and I passed a few runners before the course took on a single-track section. At the first aid station, only about 4 miles in, I picked up a Gu Roctane - I love that Gu supplied both their regular and high-test product - and continued over the Palisades Parkway to the next section.
The trail through this section was relatively smooth and the park was beautiful. I don't ever imagine there can be such nice places so close to a sprawling urban area, but here is a fine example. The course follows the shoulder of a road for a short distance before re-entering the woods and making a climb, during which I started feeling that I may have gone out too fast. True enough, I had wanted to get around some folks early on and I probably pushed the throttle a little too hard, so when I got up onto this ridge line I slowed my pace to give myself a chance to regroup.
A little further along I came up on another runner and we got to talking - turns out he ran Hardrock last year! We chit-chatted for a while about the run and his experience - it was pretty cool to connect with someone about that race in the middle of this random 50K halfway across the country.
After the next aid station the course follows a fire road, climbing slightly before making a good descent where it picks up the single track again. I was able to cruise on this section. The day was mild, but it was still overcast which kept the temperatures down. On the next section the trail climbed to a ridge line which probably would have had some nice views. There were a few spots with open ledges and sparse trees and the light green of spring vegetation. The course was definitely rocky, and I was mildly concerned about Joe because I knew this wasn't going to be easy for him.
At the next aid station I grabbed a cup of broth, a mini sandwich, and some more Roctane as I headed downhill out of the next aid station, following another runner. We re-entered the woods on a seldom used trail and climbed to another ridge line. The trail marking was excellent and it would have been near impossible to get lost. For a while I traded spots with another runner who I would pass on the uphills and he would rocket by on the downhills. Eventually we came to a steep enough hill and I didn't see him again.
Back through the aid station at mile 21 it was a few miles of relatively flat terrain before a steep climb up and down The Pines. I passed a few runners as I ran up the hill, although I felt slow on the steep descent, as I cautiously made my way down through loose soil and leaves.
A gentleman positioned just before the next aid station warned me about the descent into the AS, which made me chuckle - obviously he hadn't been out on the course and observed the conditions first-hand. I grabbed another perfectly made PB&J quarter, a Roctane and headed out. I had to laugh - with the clinical precision that TNF uses to put on the race, they must contract with a vendor to make perfect PB&J's, quartering each to exacting standards, whereas your typical race would consist of the fare that volunteers hastily assemble.
I was a bit foggy on the course description that we reviewed during the drive down to the race, and I missed the fact that this next section held the steepest, highest climb. I ended up walking a portion of it to conserve some energy. On the far side the descent was brutal - it was like a cobblestone road, except the cobbles were turned up at jagged angles, with some loose like a talus field. It was hard to keep your ankles straight, but somehow I found a path through it.
Past one more aid station, this was the homestretch. I didn't realize that there was only a small hill in the last section and after I crested I looked behind me and started pushing toward the finish. As the course rejoined the main trail, there were marathon relay runners going in the other direction and we exchanged many words of encouragement. I ran hard down the hill to the finish line, completing the run in 5:23:40, a new 50K PR for me. It was a good day and I was pleased with my race. Results
Based on our pre-race discussion about pace, I had expected Joe at about 7:00, but at 6:15 he came through the finish, having crushed the last three miles of the course and feeling great! I was so ecstatic to see him finish so well and handle the technical difficulties that this course presented.
This was a fun event, very well organized by The North Face. I was even impressed that the race t-shirts are imprinted right on site while you wait by a silkscreen company in order to have zero extra event shirts. And the volunteers at the start/finish and along the course were great.
The hills of Bear Mountain State Park may look rolling and innocuous from a distance, but they have some rocky, demanding trails. All told, the 50K race has about 4800 vertical feet of ascent over its distance. Not a major mountain run, but a great tune-up that we both left feeling good about.
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